Biology subjects

Rusman, Q.

Publications and source records attributed to Rusman, Q..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Warming and biotic interactions shape selection on plant traits and their plasticity

Global warming will impact natural selection on plant traits and their plasticity by influencing phenotypes, biotic interactions, and fitness. Because warming affects biotic interactions, community composition may influence how warming affects selection on plants, but this is little studied. We grew full-sibling pairs of Brassica rapa plants in an ambient and hot temperature environment and exposed them to visitation by a pollinator (Bombus terrestris), a pollinating herbivore (Pieris rapae), or their combination. We recorded plant phenotypes, insect visitation, herbivory, and plant fitness. We used these to calculated phenotypic selection on plant traits and their plasticity, including additive and nonadditive effects. Elevated temperature changed selection on traits related to pollinator attraction, such as flower number, nectar production, and floral scent emission. We found both positive and negative selection on temperature-mediated trait plasticity depending on the biotic treatment. Elevated temperature changed patterns of additive and non-additive selection on a variety of traits including flower morphology and scent. This study shows that elevated temperatures can reshape patterns of phenotypic selection, including nonadditive effects, and plastic trait expression. Effects of elevated temperature on phenotypic selection depended on the biotic interactors, highlighting the importance of community context for the effects of warming on natural selection.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2026

Abiotic and biotic ecological factors affect the genomic consequences of plant-butterfly coevolution

Variation in abiotic and biotic factors drives unique coevolutionary trajectories, yet we know little about how individual and interactive effects from such environmental factors alter the genomic basis of coadaptation. As a follow-up study after 6 generations of experimental coevolution, we analyzed whole-genome re-sequencing data from fast-cycling Brassica rapa plants that coevolved with a pollinating herbivore (Pieris rapae butterflies) in two different temperature environments (ambient/elevated) and in the presence/absence of bumblebees that did not coevolve. We found that genomic divergence between plant populations coevolving in the presence or absence of bumblebees was larger relative to plant populations coevolving in different temperature environments. Next, we found that the presence of bumblebees affected the number of genomic regions under selection differently depending on which temperature environment plants coevolved in. More specifically, we found no genomic regions under selection when plants coevolved in elevated temperatures and in the absence of bumblebees, but the most genomic regions under selection when plants coevolved in elevated temperatures and in the presence of bumblebees. Finally, genomic evolution underlying defense traits was larger when plants coevolved in the presence of bumblebees relative to when plants coevolved in the absence of bumblebees, which fits the prediction of coevolution being more antagonistic in the presence of a non-herbivorous co-pollinator. Overall, our results highlight how modifications in temperature and community context, potentially stemming from global environmental change, will affect the genomic basis of coevolution.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2025

Coevolution in a warming world: an experimental test of the geographic mosaic of coevolution

According to the geographic mosaic theory of coevolution (GMTC), coevolution varies with abiotic and biotic environmental factors. We assessed this hypothesis using experimental plant-butterfly coevolution and by testing the effects of temperature and the presence of mutualistic bumblebees on co-divergence during six generations of selection. Butterflies are mutualistic by pollinating plants and antagonistic by ovipositing on plants from which caterpillars feed. We found unique plant-butterfly coevolutionary trajectories in response to abiotic and biotic factors: plants evolved strong herbivore resistance when exposed to either bumblebee presence or elevated temperatures, while their combination led to less strong plant-resistance evolution and the evolution of butterfly-foraging traits. We provide experimental proof for the GCMT and show rapid divergent coevolution to the combination of local abiotic and biotic conditions.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2024

Selection for later flowering time in an orchid through frost damage and pollinator activity

Flowering time is a key trait for plant reproductive success ensuring both overlap with pollinator activity and favorable conditions for fruit development. To quantify selection on flowering time, we individually marked 1250 plants of the Small Spider Orchid, Ophrys araneola RchB., in six populations in Northern Switzerland and surveyed them during three years. We recorded the date of first flowering, frost damage, and fruiting success of individual plants. In addition, we analyzed historical records of the orchid and its only verified pollinator, the solitary bee Andrena combinata in Northern Switzerland, to estimate potential desynchronization due to climate change. We documented strong selection for later flowering driven by frost damage, with all populations showing significant selection for later flowering in at least one year. Selection for later flowering driven by pollination (fruit set) could only be analyzed in one population due to the overall low fruit set, where it was significant in one year. The historical data from between 1970 and 2019 indicated low synchronization between orchid flowering and bee occurrence, with mean flowering three weeks earlier than the mean peak of bee occurrence, corroborating selection for later flowering through fruit set. The data also showed a significant advance of flowering time and bee-occurrence in the last decades, but to a similar degree in orchids and bees, hence without an indication of increasing desynchronization through climate change. Our study shows that selection for later flowering is mostly caused by frost damage, but also by the little synchronized flowering and pollinator activity, which is however unlikely to be a consequence of climate change in this orchid.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2022

Genomic local adaptation of a generalist plant species to pollinator communities and abiotic factors

The reproductive success of generalist flowering plants is influenced by a complex ecological network that includes interactions with a diverse pollinator community and abiotic factors. However, knowledge about of the adaptative potential of plants to complex ecological networks and the underlying genetic mechanisms is still limited. Based on a pool-sequencing approach of 21 natural populations of Brassica incana in Southern Italy, we combined a genome-environmental association analysis with a genome scan for signature of selection to discover genetic variants associated with ecological variation. We demonstrated that B. incana is locally adapted both to the identity of functional categories and overall pollinator interactions. Interestingly, we observed only few shared candidate genes associated with long-tongue bees, soil texture, and temperature variation. Our results highlight the genomic architecture of generalist flowering plant adaptation to complex biotic interactions, and the importance of considering multiple environmental factors to describe the adaptive landscape of plant populations.

plant biology↗